Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Black Sheep and a Renegade

Five-year-old Neighbor Kid is rapidly becoming part of the family. He’s even asked me for a key. We do like him, but that might be moving a little fast. He continues to drop hints, “I really like keys” and “I’ve never had a key before.”

I’m not sure what it is, but having NK around means the girls get eons more exercise. They are happy circling the courtyard on their scooters for hours, they climb on things like trees, and when we go to the store, the three kids jog enthusiastically instead of walk. When NK isn’t with us, the journey to the store is often slow and labored, impeded by drama.

Yesterday afternoon, the kids were coloring at the table. They were having one absurd conversation after another, such as, “Would you like to use lines paper or straight paper? Straight paper is when there are no lines.”

“Then straight paper for me.”

And . . . Daisy turns to Violet, “Should we let NK take home his picture?”

“Um . . .no!

"Violet!"

I mean, yes!”

“We’re going to let you take home your picture.”

NK declines the generous offer with horror, “No, this is a picture of a flower. You’re keeping it.”

As they colored, the girls were blasting a lullaby CD that I purchased under the influence of pregnancy hormones. You could tell NK wasn’t into the music, though they all sang along. He asked for a turn to pick a song, then flipped through the radio until he found Highway to Hell. Turns out NK is an AC/DC fan.

Now they’ve formed an AC/DC cover band. NK is the frontman because he’s the only one who knows the lyrics, and the girls are dueling drummers who occasionally beat the crap out of each other in the middle of the song. We have to find more instruments.